


lionhearted: year one

by constellatixns



Series: lionhearted: the story of the marauders [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, POC James Potter, basically the story of the marauders years at hogwarts, peter is an actual character!!, this is my first published fic so bear with me please!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-05 13:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellatixns/pseuds/constellatixns
Summary: The story of the Marauders, from their Hogwarts years through October 31st, 1981.Year One: The beginnings of the friendship that would shape the wizarding world.





	1. the beginning of everything

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism and comments are encouraged! This work is not beta read so any errors are my own. Thanks for reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus gets on a train. Sirius throws a Chocolate Frog. James eats said Chocolate Frog. Peter gets scared.

It started, as some great friendships do, with a train ride. The train in question was currently chugging through a rolling field on its way to Hogwarts. The friendship in question would, quite literally, change the world–the wizarding world, at least. Even world-changing friendships, however, need a beginning, and that is why we find ourselves in a small train compartment of the Hogwarts Express with a certain boy called Remus Lupin.

As eleven-year-olds go, Remus was not much to look at. He was rather tall and gangly for his age, with a mop of curly brown hair that constantly fell into his eyes. More notably, however, were the pale scars crisscrossing his body. He was a werewolf, and the scars were left over from rough nights with full moons. Remus–quite dramatically, as eleven-year-old werewolves tend to be–felt as if they were constant reminders of the monster that he became every month.

At the moment, Remus was staring out the window at the passing fields. The compartment was silent except for the noise of the train clanking along the railroad, which made quite a lot of room for his anxieties to be heard. _Nobody will like you. You’ll fail all your classes. The whole school will find out you’re a werewolf and you’ll be removed._ Remus firmly told himself that he was being ridiculous, but a knot of nerves still twisted in his stomach.

There was a loud giggling noise from the train hallway outside, and Remus glanced over as a couple slid open the door and fell, tangled together, onto the seat next to him. He squashed himself against the window, but they didn’t notice anything. Instead they proceeded in an attempt to suck each other’s faces off. He edged out of the compartment, cringing and trying not to brush against the couple.

The train was full of students catching up with their friends, laughing and chatting. Nearly every compartment was filled, and Remus caught snatches of conversation as he wandered down the cramped hallway. He paused, looking back at the front of the train and wondered whether there would be more space there when he felt someone run into him with a muffled grunt.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” A short blond boy with watery blue eyes tried to pick himself up off the ground, juggling a trunk and a cage with a disgruntled-looking black cat inside.

“No, no, don’t worry about it.” he said to the boy. “Here, let me hold your trunk for you.” He reached for the polished brown handle, and the boy offered it to him gratefully.

“I’m Peter,” the boy said. “Peter Pettigrew.”

“Remus Lupin.”

“Are you a first year?” said Peter.

Remus nodded. “You?”

“Same here,” Peter said. “Do you want to find somewhere to sit down?”

“As long as there aren’t any couples trying to mangle each other’s faces in there, that sounds good.” Remus said with a wince.

He followed Peter down the hallway, towards the back of the train. They stopped outside a compartment with two boys, one with black hair and pale features and the other with a deep brown complexion, who looked about their age inside. He looked at Remus, who shrugged and nodded, and then eased the door open.

“Snivellus, back again?” said the dark-haired boy with a cocky grin. He did a double take when he realized that Remus and Peter weren’t whoever he was expecting. “Oh, my apologies.”

The other boy snickered and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Good morning, gentlemen,” he said, imitating the first boy’s posh accent. “My name is Sirius, from the Noble and most Precious house of Black. I am terribly sorry if I offended you.”

The first boy threw a Chocolate Frog at his head. “Shut up, James.”

Remus coughed. “Uh, do you guys mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full.”

“Sure, go ahead.” said James. He unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and ate it in exaggerated bites as they sat down, smacking his lips as Sirius rolled his eyes.

They introduced themselves and got to talking about Quidditch (Sirius and James were both Holyhead Harpies fans, Peter was a supporter of the Wimbourne Wasps, and Remus barely knew how to play), which lead them into broom spells, then Chocolate Frog card collecting, then a game of Exploding Snap. Before the boys knew it, they were changing into their robes and leaving the train.

“Firs’ years over here!” A gigantic bearded man waved his arms and they fought through the crowd of students to reach him.

“That’s Hagrid, the gamekeeper,” said James proudly. “My dad told me all about him.”

“He must have giant blood in him.” whispered Peter, who only came up to the man’s waist, in awe. They followed him and boarded a fleet of small boats at the edge of a lake with the rest of the first years.

“My dad said the giant squid in here ate someone once.” James said casually to Sirius. Peter’s eyes widened.

“Really?” said Sirius, holding back a snigger.

James nodded. “Absolutely.” He leaned over the side of the boat and pretended to squint into the murky water. “Look, there’s something there.”

Peter followed James’ finger with an open mouth. He peered into the lake like he saw movement. Remus gazed into the water, but saw nothing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw James wink at Sirius.

James dug his fingers into Peter’s side, tickling him and yelling, “Ahhh!” Peter screamed, and so did Remus. James and Sirius burst out laughing, and after a moment, so did the other two boys.

As Hogwarts came into view, there was a chorus of gasps. The castle towered over the black lake like a giant. The reflection of hundreds of lights shimmered in the rippling water as the boats slipped quietly towards the castle.

The first years gathered in the Great Hall, gaping at the charmed star-strewn ceiling. Professor McGonagall gave them a stern speech, explaining how houses worked at Hogwarts, house points, and other things that Remus was too anxious to pay attention to. They murmured with nerves as she led them past the entire Great Hall to the ragged Sorting Hat sitting on a wooden stool. James grinned at Sirius while the Sorting Hat sang its song, and Sirius smiled rather weakly back, determined not to let his anxiety show. Remus felt as though his heart would beat its way out of his chest. Peter was quite ready to sit down somewhere in a corner and let the Sorting Hat come to him.

The first person to be Sorted was “Avery, Roland!” The hat declared him Slytherin, and the table on the far left erupted in cheers. “Aubrey, Bertam!” was promptly named a Ravenclaw.  
“Black, Sirius!” was the next person to be called.

Sirius walked up to the Sorting Hat with a grim sort of determination. The last thing he saw before the Hat covered his eyes was the table full of green and silver watching him.

“Another Black, hmm?” said a small voice. If the Sorting Hat had a head, Sirius thought it would have chuckled. “Interesting.” said the voice again, and laughed. “Well, well, well. This is novel indeed. There’s a first time for everything, I suppose. I think I’d better put you in GRYFFINDOR!”

Professor McGonagall took the Hat off, and he blinked furiously at the sudden brightness of the Great Hall. There was a long moment of silence, and then the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Sirius walked over, feeling as if he was in a cloud of fog. The Slytherin table remained stubbornly mute and glared daggers at his back. From the line of first years, he saw James cheering. He sat down, some people clapping him on the back, and watched the rest of the Sorting.

Cheng, Daisy was the first Hufflepuff, and her twin, David, went to Ravenclaw. Lily Evans, the girl from the train, was the next Gryffindor. Remus became a Gryffindor as well, and he took a seat next to Sirius, looking thoroughly stunned. A shy-looking girl called Alice Longbottom became a Gryffindor as well, along with Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene McKinnon. Mary McDonald was a Hufflepuff, and Adrian O’Hara was Sorted Slytherin.

The Hat sat on Peter’s head for almost five minutes, and just as the crowd started to murmur, it announced him a Gryffindor and he walked over, tripping over his shoelaces amidst gales of laughter. James was Sorted Gryffindor as soon as the Hat fell over his eyes and he sat down with an exhilarated grin.

“I guess we’re stuck together now.” James said, wiggling his bushy eyebrows at them. Behind him, Severus Snape became a Slytherin.

“Just you wait. My mother will find a way to get me to switch houses.” said Sirius, only half joking.

“Dumbledore will never let that happen,” Peter said as they dug into the feast. “Besides, it’s not like it was your choice.” Sirius only nodded, suddenly very interested in his roast beef.

As the last crumbs of apple pie disappeared from the golden plates, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up from the front of the room and clinked his fork on his glass.

“Another excellent feast, another beginning of a year. I would like to remind students of some important rules, some for the first time and others...not.” He looked at a set of redheaded twins from the Ravenclaw table, eyes twinkling. “As usual, the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to students. This year, there is a new addition to the school grounds. The Whomping Willow is highly dangerous and I strongly advise students to stay far away from it at all times.”

Remus had gone pale and was staring at Dumbledore like he had three heads. James elbowed him. “You okay?” he muttered. Remus nodded.

“Fanged Frisbees, Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, and Yodeling Yo-Yos,” Dumbledore finished reading a list and neatly snapped the roll of parchment back into place. “If anyone has any questions about the list of forbidden objects, they should inquire with Caretaker Filch. Now, off to bed!”

The Great Hall echoed with chatter as everyone pushed back their chairs and stood up. The first years followed one of the prefects, Victoria Young, up and down flights of stairs and past moving paintings. They reached a portrait of a rather plump lady wearing a pale pink gown, who regarded the first years with interest. “Password?” she said.

“Grapefruit.” said Victoria, and the Fat Lady swung forward to let them in.

The common room was an explosion of red and gold. A crackling fire was already burning in the fireplace, and students milled around, talking to each other and catching up. There was a pause, and once the other Gryffindors realized the first years had entered, they broke out in cheers and chants of “First-ies! First-ies!” James and Sirius took exaggerated bows, blowing kisses to older students, who wolf-whistled back. Lily Evans rolled her eyes, and Remus hid a grin.

“The dormitories are upstairs.” Victoria told the first years once the celebratory cheers had died down. “Girls on the right, boys on the left. Your name and your roommates will be on the front of your door.”

“Race you!” said James to Peter, Sirius, and Remus, and they hurtled up the stairs, elbowing each other and laughing.


	2. toujours pur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marauders attend classes. Sirius gets a letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind comments and kudos you gave me! I definitely didn't expect many positive responses, especially since this fic is just getting started.

It was only the third day of school, and Remus felt the pull of the moon, which would be full in two days, on his body. It tugged at his skin, at his bones, and made him cranky enough to snap at Peter for chewing too loudly at dinner. He tried to ignore the imminent change and focus on classes instead. 

 

At home, Lyall Lupin had few of his old Hogwarts textbooks to teach Remus with. They had finished all three books at least twice through by the time he was nine, and there had been no more magical books available for Remus to learn from at home. He wanted to learn magic so badly it ached, but there was nothing more for Remus to learn from his father. 

 

The classes at Hogwarts were so much better than Remus had imagined. On the first day, they had walked into Transfiguration to see the classroom lacking a teacher. Instead, a tabby cat sat on the desk at the front of the room, seemingly watching the students as they filed into class, murmuring amongst themselves.

 

“I heard McGonagall’s the toughest teacher in school.” said Peter nervously.

 

“Me, too.” Remus said. 

 

“My dad barely passed his Transfiguration classes.” James added. “And he’s basically a genius.”

 

Sirius grinned. “My cousin said she’s so strict it’s like she’s got a - “ But what Professor McGonagall had, the four would never know. At that exact moment, the tabby cat leapt off the desk and transformed in mid-air into the professor herself. 

 

“Would you like to elaborate on that, Mr. Black?” she said dryly. Sirius squeaked out something unintelligible, and as Professor McGonagall started teaching them how to turn a match into a needle, Remus swore she was trying not to smile.

 

In Potions, Professor Slughorn showed them different potions that he had brewed, including Amortentia, Felix Felicis, and Veritaserum. Professor Sprout had them observe a Venomous Tentacula (from a safe distance, of course). Defense Against the Dark Arts was the class that everyone was looking forward to, but they had to wait until the very end of the day for it.

 

The first years had waited in the dusty classroom for ten minutes after the bell signaling the start of class rang, talking to each other.

 

“Maybe the new teacher is an Animagus, like McGonagall,” Peter said. “Only he’s too big to fit in the classroom.”

 

“Maybe he resigned after he saw how greasy Snivellus’ hair is.” James stage-whispered. Severus Snape, who James and Sirius had taken an instant dislike to from the moment they first met (the feeling was mutual), heard them and scowled. 

 

The room hushed with an unnatural stillness when they heard footsteps and the click of a cane behind them. Nobody seemed to be breathing as the professor approached their desks. 

 

“Or maybe,” said a soft voice, “he was just waiting to see what happens when you put forty first years into a classroom.”

 

Nobody dared to move a muscle. The professor walked up to the blackboard, each step deliberately slow, and turned to face the class. He had a sharp face and brutally cropped black hair. He walked with a carved wooden cane, and Remus thought he saw a flash of scarred, blackened tissue underneath his left pant leg before the professor adjusted his foot. 

 

“You may address me as Professor Archer,” he said. “I take Defense Against the Dark Arts very seriously. In this class, you will be held to the highest of standards. You will learn how to defend yourself from any possible situation, from minor jinxes and hexes to the Unforgivable Curses. Today, however, we will start off easy.”

 

They were broken into pairs, and practiced the wand movements of the Knockback Jinx for the rest of class. It was the first time that Remus had seen James sit up and pay total attention in class. He was focused and driven like he never had been before, even in Transfiguration, and at the end Professor Archer even gave him a half smile. After class, James chattered on what had happened.

 

“Did you see his cane? And the way he walked into class! Merlin, I want to learn how to make a dramatic entrance like that.” He scrunched his eyebrows and glared in an exaggerated imitation of the professor, holding an imaginary cane. Sirius and Peter burst out laughing, and Remus smiled. 

 

* * *

  
  


To their enormous luck, James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus had all been assigned a dorm together. They walked back up to their room, but when Sirius drew aside the curtains on his four-poster and saw the white envelope lying on his bed, he froze. He snatched up the letter with a pale face and ripped it open, scanning through its contents. He looked around at James, Peter, and Remus with a thoroughly shaken expression on his face.

 

“Well, it was nice knowing you guys.” he said with a bitter smile. 

 

“What do you mean?” James said. “Are you being pulled out of school?”

 

Sirius sighed. “My parents want me to move to Slytherin, because I’m a Black and it’s ‘only proper.’” 

 

“That’s stupid.” Remus said strongly. “Whatever the Sorting Hat says is final, right?”

 

Sirius only shrugged. “I have to go talk to Dumbledore.”

 

“We’ll walk you there.” said Peter. 

 

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be okay.” said Sirius, and he walked out the door.

 

* * *

 

Hogwarts, Sirius Black thought, was nothing like he had expected. He had been told how things would go once he reached the castle: sit next to Narcissa and Bella at the Slytherin table, make friends with Roland Avery and Evan Rosier and Augustus Rookwood, you met them at Uncle Cygnus’ party when you were ten, remember? Narcissa had vividly described the Slytherin common room and the classes at Hogwarts to an enthralled nine-year-old Sirius. 

 

Nobody had prepared him for what to do if he hadn’t become a Slytherin. There had never been another option, at least not for him. He had lain awake the first night, feeling like a fraud and shoving the knot of nerves in his chest away. He half-expected his mother to burst in at any moment and demand he switch houses. He was a Black. He didn’t belong here, in this tower of red and gold. 

 

The letter had said three words in total:  _ Fix this immediately. _ It was stamped with the Black seal and motto,  _ Toujours Pur.  _ Always Pure. For as long as Sirius could remember, his parents were obsessed with blood purity. They treated Muggleborn and even half-blood witches and wizards like dirt beneath their feet. The Gryffindor house was the very center of what they saw as the Muggleborn ‘plague,’ and his parents would be livid that their eldest son and heir had been Sorted into the house of Mudbloods and traitors. 

 

He tried not to think about the consequences of his Sorting and wandered around the castle in search of Dumbledore’s office instead. He found it on the third floor after what felt like an hour of wandering. Two stone gargoyles on either side of the double oak doors perked up when he approached, and the one on the right said, “Password?”

 

Sirius groaned. “Can I just go in? It’s urgent.”

 

The gargoyles looked at each other. “Sorry kid,” said the one on the left. “We’re under orders not to let anyone in unless they have the password.”

 

“Fine,” Sirius muttered angrily. “Gryffindor? Phoenix? Old man?” The gargoyles remained stubbornly in place. He turned and kicked the wall. “Stupid gargoyles and stupid passwords.”

 

A set of footsteps behind him made him turn around. Professor McGonagall marched toward Sirius, emerald robes swishing. “Mr. Black, may I ask what you are doing in front of Headmaster Dumbledore’s office instead of doing your homework?” 

 

“I need to talk to him about my Sorting. Professor.” said Sirius, adding on the title at the last second.

 

“As a matter of fact, so do I,” said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly. “Sugar Quill.” 

 

The gargoyles leapt apart. She strode up the stone staircase, leaving a gaping Sirius behind. “Well, are you going?” said the gargoyle on the left, and he hastily followed her up the stairs.

 

Dumbledore’s office was small, with a fair few strange objects bubbling and whirring on stone shelves. “Minerva, please sit,” Dumbledore summoned a chair for Professor McGonagall. He looked at Sirius behind half-moon glasses, blue eyes regarding him with interest. “Mr. Black, have a seat as well. I’ve been expecting you.” Sirius, sputtering, found himself being swept into a squashy armchair.

 

Professor McGonagall produced several envelopes from her robes. She set them on Dumbledore’s desk, reaching into her pockets and pulling out a handful more. “These,” she said, “are all from Mr. Black’s relatives, demanding him to be switched into Slytherin.” She pulled the final letters from her robes. The pile on the desk was overflowing, and every single envelope had a wax seal with the Black family seal on it. 

 

Dumbledore turned to look at Sirius. “Well, Mr. Black? Do you agree that Slytherin is a better fit for you?”

 

Sirius hesitated. “Yes, sir. I’m a Black, after all.” Beside him, Professor McGonagall scoffed.

 

“I think you misunderstand me, Mr. Black,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. “Do  _ you _ agree that Slytherin is a better match for you?”

 

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore watched Sirius as he racked his brain. A pendulum on the desk ticked as it swung back and forth. He thought about James, and how within minutes of their meeting, they were joking and laughing like best friends. He thought of Remus, who had beaten him in wizard’s chess five times in a row, and Peter, who was shy as a . Finally, Sirius said, “No, sir.”

 

McGonagall nodded. “Very well, then. I suppose we’ll have to mail these back. Albus?” She glared at the stack of letters on Dumbledore’s desk. 

 

“I can take care of those.” Dumbledore smiled at Sirius, who felt a little nauseous at the thought of what he had just done. “Good night, Mr. Black. And thank you.”

 

Sirius mumbled a thank you to both professors and wandered back to the Gryffindor common room. He stopped just inside the portrait hole. Peter and Remus were hunched over a chessboard in concentration and James was eagerly looking over their shoulders. The crackling fire illuminated their smiling faces. Sirius had smashed his parents’ expectations. He had broken all the family rules. His mother was going to murder him when he went back home, but at the moment, Sirius didn’t really care.

 

“We were waiting for you!” James waved excitedly to him when he saw him. “Come on, Peter is crushing Remus in this game.” 

 

“No way.” A grin spread over Sirius’ face, and he walked over to join his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos to let me know what you thought! I'm slowly figuring out the posting schedule, but it will definitely not be very often as I have finals coming up and many other things that unfortunately keep me from writing as much as I'd like to :(


	3. moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus plays the piano, Peter collects homework, James is worried, and Sirius has an...interesting family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for staying with me through a month without an update! You guys are the best.

The sun was setting in a smear of brilliant colors across the sky as Remus and Madam Pomfrey made their way across the school grounds towards the Whomping Willow. He watched as she carefully levitated a fallen branch to press a wrinkled knot in the trunk. The tree's writhing limbs immediately froze, and green leaves fluttered down from its motionless branches.

 

"Alright, in you go, dear," Madam Pomfrey looked at Remus warmly. "I'll see you at sunrise tomorrow."

 

Remus nodded nervously and squeezed through the small opening at the base of the trunk into a musty tunnel. The floor of the tunnel was uneven with stones and roots, and he tried to focus on keeping his footing instead of the inevitable agony of his upcoming transformation. Finally, the tunnel floor sloped upwards, and Remus clambered out of a wooden trapdoor.

 

Even though Remus knew Dumbledore had placed protective wards around every inch of the dilapidated shack he stood in, it still didn’t seem like enough protection. The walls looked thin, and the windows were cracked and covered in a layer of dirt so thick he could barely see outside. The shack was decorated with flimsy wooden furniture, and for some reason there was a piano in the sitting room. Through the grimy windows, Remus could see the rapidly darkening sky. He took off his robes and put them in the sturdiest-looking drawer he could find. Moonrise was still a little while away, so Remus sat down at the piano to wait.

 

Before she had married Lyall, Hope Lupin used to be a pianist. Remus had been stuck at home more often than not after he was bitten, and to pass the time, Hope taught him how to play. He looked at the dusty keys of the piano in front of him, and then plunked on a few keys. Surprisingly, the piano was still in tune, and he began to play the first notes of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata—very fitting for the occasion, he thought.

 

* * *

 

If you stand on the outer edge of Hogsmeade and face the Hogwarts castle, you might see a boarded up wooden structure a ways off the main road. Most nights, it remains silent. But on the nights where the moon shines full and bright in the star-studded sky, like tonight, the haunting notes of a piano fill the cold night air. The sun sets alongside the rising swell of the music. Just as the moon starts to break the horizon, the melody stops with an abrupt chord of mismatched notes. There is silence for one terrible second. Then someone is screaming, and the sound of it is enough to break your heart.

 

* * *

 

Remus woke up to pain all over his body. Watery morning light filtered through the dusty shack, revealing the damage the wolf had caused last night. There was a smashed chair and table on the floor, and deep gouges in the floorboards. Miraculously, the piano remained intact, with only a few scratch marks on its legs. The wolf, however, hadn’t similarly spared his body. Deep, throbbing wounds lay here and there on his body, and it only took a glance for Remus to know that they’d scar badly.

 

The trapdoor entrance creaked open and Madam Pomfrey climbed out. She caught sight of Remus’ sorry state and clucked her tongue. 

“Can you stand?” she said, eyeing over his wounds with an appraising eye.

 

Remus only nodded, and accepted her outstretched hand to haul himself to his feet. Madam Pomfrey gave him a soft robe to cover himself. He limped down the tunnel back to Hogwarts, one arm on Madam Pomfrey’s shoulder. They barely made it back to the hospital wing before Remus collapsed on the infirmary bed and promptly passed out.

 

When he woke the second time, both Dumbledore and his parents were sitting next to his bed. Dumbledore smiled at Remus when he noticed he was awake.

 

“Dad, Mom, what are you doing here?” Remus said, his voice still hoarse from the night before. 

 

Hope brushed a curl of hair off his forehead, smiling sadly at her son. “Checking on you, of course.”

“Did everything go smoothly last night?” Lyall Lupin, Remus’ father, said.

 

“As well as it could go.” Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a vial of green potion. “Remus, drink this. It won’t heal your wounds, but it’ll make the pain go away.”

Remus took it and drank, wincing slightly at the sour taste. His parents watched him carefully, likely trying to discern how bad this moon had been on him.

 

“What did you tell your friends when you left?” Hope asked Remus.

 

“Family thing,” Remus said. 

 

Lyall nodded approvingly. “And did the wards hold?”

 

“Lyall, I assure you that my wards are in excellent condition.” Dumbledore said with a wink at Remus. 

 

Lyall gave a weary sort of smile to Dumbledore and got out of his chair. “You be good, Remus,” he said, embracing him as best as he could.

 

Hope kissed him on the cheek. “See you soon.”

 

Dumbledore led them out of the hospital wing, and the double doors shut behind them with a thunk.

 

“Madam Pomfrey, when can I go back to class?” Remus said as she finished putting potion ingredients into a cauldron.

 

She walked back over to Remus’ bed with another vial of potion and a stern look. “You are staying here and  _ resting _ for at least three days. Don’t even think about trying to go back to class yet.”

 

“But what about my homework?”

 

Madam Pomfrey gave him a withering glare. “You’re a first year. What kind of homework do you have?” Remus blushed in embarrassment, and she sighed relentingly. “Fine. We’ll see how you look tomorrow, and then we’ll decide when you can go back to class.”

 

* * *

 

James was worried. Remus had been missing since Sunday (“Family thing,” Remus had said, and then he disappeared.) It was Tuesday morning and he still wasn’t at school. 

 

“D’you think he’s sick?” he asked Peter at breakfast, who shrugged noncommittally with a mouth full of eggs. “And what  _ is  _ his ‘family thing,’ anyways?”

 

“My whole life is a ‘family thing,’” said Sirius. “Could be anything from ‘most of my relatives are pure-blooded maniacs’ to ‘help, Uncle Cygnus got cursed by an old watch and now his hand is rotting off.’”

“Did it really?” James said, fascinated.

 

Sirius nodded. “They couldn’t break the curse, so they had to amputate his entire hand off.”

 

“Wicked,” breathed Peter. “I wish my family was that interesting.”

 

“I wouldn’t really call it interesting–” Sirius began, but at that moment, Remus squeezed himself onto the bench in between James and Peter and helped himself to a heaping plate of toast and bacon.

 

“Remus!” James exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Remus’ shoulder. “Where were you?”

 

“I told you, I had a family thing,” Remus said, shrugging out of James’ enthusiastic grip. He tore into his breakfast like he hadn’t eaten in a month. As the other boys watched him, it kind of looked like that was what had happened. Remus was paler than usual, and he had dark shadows under his eyes that hadn’t been there on Sunday. There was a long red scratch on the side of his neck that peeked over the neck of his robes.

 

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, sharing a worried look with James.

 

Remus nodded, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

 

“Well, you just–” James trailed off.

 

“You kind of–” Peter gestured helplessly.

 

“You look like someone ran you over, mate.” Sirius said. 

“I’m fine, seriously,” Remus repeated. “Did anyone get the homework for me?”

 

Peter handed him a slim stack of papers. “There wasn’t much.”

 

Remus slid his homework into his bag, still inhaling his food. He garbled something unintelligible at Peter.

 

“Sorry, I don’t speak French,” Peter said.

 

Remus laughed and immediately choked. Sirius hit him hard on the back a few times before he swallowed and said, “I said, thanks.”

 

“Anytime.” Peter replied with a smile.

 

“You missed out on a lot of things while you were gone,” James said loftily. “Lily Evans finally said something to me other than ‘Go away.’”

 

“Yeah,” said Sirius. “She told him, ‘You’re a prat.’”

 

James stuck his tongue out at Sirius. “It’s an improvement! Three words is better than two.”

 

“Four words is even better: I hate your guts.” Sirius said, ticking off the words on his fingers with a smirk. The table dissolved into laughter, and just when they had started to regain their composure, Lily Evans herself shot them a glare that could rival Professor McGonagall’s, and they broke down laughing again.

 

When they had all calmed down, James said, “It’s good to have you back, Remus,” and Peter and Sirius nodded in agreement.

 

Remus looked at them with an unidentifiable emotion on his face before he slowly smiled and said, “It’s good to be back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed this! The next chapter should be up relatively soon. :)

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this work comes from the song King And Lionheart by Of Monsters And Men. 
> 
> Here is the link to the music video if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A76a_LNIYwE


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